Pursuing marginality
Why should we expect to need a reason for the hope that is in us?
“‘central’ figures have often worked their way inward from the margins. It was the desert, not the temple, that gave us the prophets;” — Wendell Berry
1It is no surprise to readers here that I tend toward fringe, extreme beliefs that are generally antagonistic towards institutions, even including the modern church. A common criticism of perspectives like mine is that I heedlessly glorify suffering for suffering’s sake. Admittedly, I have at times strayed into such territory, but my goal is not to promote suffering; it is to pursue marginality.
Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam the king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to endure all of his words. For this Amos has said, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly go into exile away from his land.’ ”
And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee to the land of Judah and earn food there and prophesy there!” But do not prophesy again at Bethel, because this is a sanctuary of a king and this is a temple of a kingdom.”
And Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet and I am not a son of a prophet, but I am a herdsman and I am one taking care of sycamore trees. And Yahweh took me from following behind the sheep and goats and Yahweh said to me, “Go, prophesy to my people Israel! And so then, hear the word of Yahweh! (Amos 7:10-16, LEB)
This is one of my favorite passages in the entire Bible. I’ve mentioned before that it provides an example of the prophetic ethos that we are still called to have today as Christians: one that is unbudgingly critical of those who oppress the people or the land, one that is not reliant on institutions guilty of the former, one that speaks from the outside in.
It is the people on the outside, in the margins of society, that the Bible prioritizes for neighbor-love. According to our world and most Christians today, we help these people through legislation and economic regimes that will promote their well-being.
According to Jesus, we go to the margins. We empty ourselves in imitation of Christ so that the Kingdom of God2 and the Spirit of God3 can live within us and pour out4 on others.
According to the world, even according to those who were entrusted with temple worship, Amos was unfit for the job: his lineage was not priestly and he was not trained as a spiritual leader. However, in God’s eyes, Amos was the perfect man for the job: “I am not a prophet and I am not a son of a prophet, but I am a herdsman and I am one taking care of sycamore trees.”
In other words, Amos was a shepherd and a gardener—just like God. Amos lived in the margins in a literal, geographical sense, and provides a metaphor for marginality in modern biblical understandings of authority. Biblical leadership is shepherding and gardening: it is designed for the margins and always starts with servitude, the voluntary subjection of the self.
Shepherds protect, shepherds lead by example, shepherds nurture their flock. Gardeners plant, gardeners water, gardeners prune, and gardeners know that it is God who brings growth.5 This kind of leadership isn’t just selfless—it’s prophetic. It silently (loudly) criticizes unjust authority by imitating something (Someone) otherworldly and providimg an alternative, spiritual yet embodied in the temporal, kingdom.
Peter told us that the sons and daughters of God’s people would prophesy,6 but maybe prophesying isn’t what we think it is. Maybe it’s pursuing a life on the margins where we can give of ourselves more fully.
Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Pet 4:19-5:5, ESV)
I’m not an elder, but these words apply to all of us in the church because we are called to imitate the selflessness of elders “likewise” or “in like manner” (homoiōs). This is the third time Peter uses the word in the letter, and its use illuminates something fundamental about the prophetic Christian walk. Earlier, Peter reminds us to treat the emperor as respectfully as the Christian should treat the slave, and then uses slaves as the primary example of the Christian walk.7 The wives are called to imitate the slaves “likewise” in their voluntary subjection to often unjust authority,8 for this is how they use their true freedom not for themselves9 but as servants of God who will perhaps win their husbands to Christ.
And the Christian husband? In one short verse, the husband is called to “likewise” imitate the slaves and wives, those whom society looked down on.10 The husband is called to pursue the margins and imitate them, thus imitating Christ. This final “likewise” vis-à-vis the imitation of the elders by the young Christians and the ensuing two-way humility should evoke similar thoughts.
Such a lifestyle will inevitably incur suffering, but Peter encourages us:
But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, (1 Pet 3:14-18, ESV)
Voluntarily pursuing the margins places us in a frame of mind that is other-focused, not self-focused. It helps us “give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute”11 rather than fight for our own supposed rights. It makes us relatable to those the Bible calls us to help, and it destroys our hypocrisy. Those of us in a position of “centrality” far from the margins can seek selflessness at the cost of our own advantages precisely because we can lose nothing that matters. We have a freedom this world cannot steal.
“People talk about the liberty of the Christian Church, about giving or not giving freedom to Christians. Underlying all these ideas and expressions there is some strange misconception. Freedom cannot be bestowed on or taken from a Christian or Christians. Freedom is an inalienable possession of the Christian.
If we talk about bestowing freedom on Christians or withholding it from them, we are obviously talking not of real Christians but of people who only call themselves Christians. A Christian cannot fail to be free, because the attainment of the aim he sets before himself cannot be prevented or even hindered by anyone or anything.” — Leo Tolstoy
12So let us pursue the margins, and in so doing prophesy: proclaiming the Lord’s death until He comes and the restoration of the oppressed to stewardship of the land “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper.”13
Opening quote from The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture by Wendell Berry.
Luke 17:20-21.
e.g. Rom 8:9-11.
e.g. John 4:13-14.
cf. 1 Cor 3:6.
Acts 2.
1 Pet 2:13-25.
1 Pet 3:1-6.
cf. Gal 5.
1 Pet 3:7.
Psa 82, ESV.
Quote from The Kingdom of God is Within You by Leo Tolstoy, translated by Constance Garnett.
Amos 7:17, ESV.